Energy harvesting performance of a novel polymer-nanocrystal composite of P(VDF-TrFE)/ZnO QD films

•The 0.15 wt% P(VDF-TrFE)/ZnO QD exhibited the maximum energy storage and the highest energy harvesting performance.•The polarization of QDs has contributed to the highest pyroelectric coefficient of the polymer nanocomposite.•Micellar crystallite structures coalesced with elongated rod-like structures contributing to the increment of FE.•Above 0.25 wt% of ZnO QDs, the spherical micelle-like structure becomes saturated to a highly distributed micelle-like hole.•Dipole-dipole interactions of nanoparticles and interfacial polarization increase the polarisation of the nanocomposite.